The captives
By panyasan
Chapter 12
Disclaimer : Enterprise and its characters are property of CBS/Paramount.
Time-line: Takes place between 2155 (after the events of Terra Prime) and the beginning of the year 2156, just before the start of the Earth-Romulan war (2156-2160).
Summary: After the events of Terra Prime, T'Pol was sent to prison. Upon their return, Trip, T'Pol and Phlox discover that Trip and other members of Starfleet are infected by nanites from a contaminated Romulan ship. Additionally, Trip was attacked by a telepath a year ago and part of his memory was wiped.
Author's note: Thanks to my beta KKGlinka and to Kevin Thomas Riley for checking Swedish facts. This chapter is from Doctor Phlox's point of view. Some quotes are from the ENT-episode Terra Prime and a reference is made to the episode The Aenar.
January, 2155 – Sickbay on the starship Enterprise -
There was nothing he could do. His little patient, in the incubator in front of him, struggled more and more to simply breath. Everything was silent, including the animals of his sickbay. Only the beeping of the monitor could be heard, representing a pulse, slowly becoming weaker. A sinking feeling filled him. He had experienced it before, a long time ago, when he saw the casualties of a cargo ship explosion; when he looked into the eyes of refugees on Matalas; in the last minutes of Sim. That feeling of helplessness that froze a person to the bones.
He had people die in his arms and he had mourned them. He had seen battlefields covered with dead and wounded. The sadness he was feeling now, was of a different kind, more personal. Like the time he had seen Sim's life slowly fading away. Sim had changed him in so many ways.
In the first years of his tenure on Enterprise he had been so sure about what was right or wrong, what he could do as a doctor. Of course, he had regretted once or twice a decision that he had made, he wasn't perfect. Other than that, he knew the crew could benefit greatly from his knowledge. He had advised the captain on many occasions. He kept his distance like a good doctor and observer would. He had withheld the plague cure from the Vakalians, because he firmly believed in the survival of the fittest. Evolution must take his course and the Menk were the stronger species, destined – by whom? By what? - to survive and not the Vakalians. Life had a way of showing that it couldn't be boxed within nice little theories, not even scientific ones. When Sim sacrificed his own life to save others, he learned that the hard way.
Now he saw the elder version – the real version of Sim - a man he had came to like and respect, standing next to the incubator, looking at the child, desperately hoping she would be well again.
It was hard to believe she was a product of cloning, of medical techniques and abused possibilities. A child born out of cruel ideology – only to wind up being loved by her unwitting parents. Not for the first time, he saw the dark side of medical advancement and realized again the responsibilities doctors had.
The woman next to Commander Tucker had the same look in her eyes. T'Pol was his companion of Human studies - a woman, so different from him, alien to him, as he was alien to her - but still Phlox had came to value her friendship greatly. On the incubator, a medallion was hung and when T'Pol had placed it there, Tucker had nodded in perfect understanding.
The baby girl was clinging to life with every breath, her parents standing by her side, supporting and watching her. Before his eyes a picture of love was painted, reflected in Tucker and T'Pol's faces, seen in their gentle gestures toward the child, a better medicine for heart and soul then any doctor could have provided.
Standing behind him was the captain.
"I wish I could do more," he said to him.
"I know," the captain answered.
"When you invited me to join this crew, I thought it would be an interesting diversion for a few months. Some time away from the complications of family, which on Denobula can be extremely complicated. I didn't expect to gain another family," he explained. He was close to tears. "It hurts as if she were my own child. Make something good come from this, Captain."
In the year that followed, Phlox often thought of his plea to the captain. Behind his smile, he bore the sober realization that soon thereafter unity withered away and division poured in, not only in the Coalition, but also in Starfleet. Nothing good seemed to have come out of this ordeal, especially for Commanders Tucker and T'Pol.
Only a few days were given to them before a storm of investigations blew them away. The gatherings, discussing the outcome of the investigation of Terra Prime by Starfleet Internal Affairs and Intelligence, ended up in an inquiry about the relationship between Commanders Tucker and T'Pol. It made him increasingly uncomfortable. So, he made sure to have a quick word with the captain before yet one other of those meetings started.
"Captain, I understand the need for Starfleet to gather as much information as possible about Terra Prime, but as a doctor it's my opinion that too much strain is being put on Commanders Tucker and T'Pol. They are both grieving and in a very emotionally fragile state," he started to explain.
Archer didn't see the problem. Referring to the conference Tucker and T'Pol had attended after that fateful hour in sickbay, he said "They seem to be doing alright, doctor. They went to the conference afterward and gave their speeches. They are professionals and trained to work under stress."
He felt vehemently otherwise. "Commander T'Pol left the minute she could in an abrupt manner, a clear sign from someone who knows her as I do, and I have spoken with Commander Tucker about the conference. He hardly remembered being there."
The investigation meeting that followed was a nightmare. He refuted any accusation that he should have reported T'Pol's illness. Afterward, he speculated in his mind if he should have done anything differently. He still thought he made the right decision, but he regretted that he hadn't put T'Pol on medical leave when she told him about her addiction. It would have spared her a lot of misery. He never let anyone see his doubts or to look beyond his professional face.
After the meeting, he had been disturbed, but still optimistic. He expected some solution to be found, especially when he heard from Lieutenant Reed about Commander Tucker's efforts to help T'Pol. Never did he suspect that T'Pol's addiction and her relationship with Tucker would lead to a prison sentence. He only got a reprimand. She had to serve time. Phlox lost a very dear friend and he had missed her.
In a way, he lost two dear friends. The moment T'Pol was gone, Tucker was too. He was still there, but kept his distance. The commander sometimes looked at Phlox, reserved, with a tad of anger, like he was blaming him for a part for what happened to T'Pol. He wasn't surprised when he heard that Tucker had chosen another physician to do his regular check-ups.
He still had two other friends left from the Enterprise crew, Hoshi and the captain. The captain had been irritated that he was kept in the dark about T'Pol's addiction. As a doctor he had an obligation not to break patient-doctor confidentiality, but Archer had a different opinion, citing a need to know if any member of his command staff was compromised. Privately, Phlox wondered how the captain could have remained so oblivious to his executive officer's systematic change in behavior. Still, when they spoke, which due to Archer's busy working schedule was hardly ever, his attitude was friendly.
Hoshi was another story. He met her on a regular basis. She liked to practice the several dialects of Denobulan on him and she was very good in his native tongue. They also exchanged the latest Starfleet gossip, including some about her.
"Rumor is, that you started dating Lieutenant Reed," he brought up during one of their meals together.
Hoshi had giggled. "Don't think too much of it. We're just spending time together."
He always thought that was the definition of dating. Every time she brought Malcolm up, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were shining like stars. The relationship was blooming, which was kind of a surprise to him. Phlox hadn't really thought of them as a couple, technical definitions of dating aside.
But, he had learned his lesson and had become reluctant to interfere with Human relationships. In spite of his psychology degree, he had first thought that T'Pol and the captain would make a nice couple, totally ignoring the possibility that the captain would never fully accept T'Pol due to his strong racial prejudice. Moreover, she wasn't his type. She annoyed him more than he was willing to admit, but most of all, Archer would never see past her Vulcan heritage.
Phlox came to notice that T'Pol seemed to care about Tucker a lot and he even spotted what appeared to be a mutual attraction. In their third year on the ship, Tucker needed cognitive behavioral therapy to combat insomnia and Vulcan neuropressure seemed a perfect solution. T'Pol also would benefit from neuropressure, because of her Pa'Nar syndrome, which had become worse in the Expanse. Tucker needed the listening ear that she would invariably provide. T'Pol could use someone to talk to as well. What better solution than to let T'Pol help Tucker with neuropressure sessions? He enjoyed playing matchmaker, a comfortingly Denobulan practice, but based on the results, his idea worked too well.
So he listened without comment when Hoshi told him about her visit with Malcolm to a museum, a theater play and the movies they saw together. Her recounting became less enthusiastic, as time passed by. During one of their conversations, it became clear to him that the relationship was in trouble. In the midst of her story about an event she and Reed attended, she said, "He just seems to freeze up every time I try to be close to him."
"Freeze?" he asked.
"He says he's okay with our relationship, but becomes uncomfortable when I kiss him goodnight. He never seems fully at ease with me. His body never totally relaxes."
"He is a security officer," was his solution.
Hoshi smiled shortly. "If we were together on a mission or working on the ship, I could understand. Sometimes..." She stopped and looked down at her plate. Then she lifted her head and said to him, "A couple of months ago he said that from all the people he could choose I was the best choice."
"That's a flattering compliment," he remarked.
"It's not, Doctor Phlox. It almost comes across like he's only with me because there aren't many people available for him to choose from. Like it was mostly convenient."
"In Denobulan culture convenience is a good reason to choose a partner. The wives and husbands need to work together, so we look closely for compatibility over chance preference."
"On Earth too, but not this way," she said with such conviction, that he feared that the relationship between Hoshi and Reed wasn't going to be long lived.
One day, she told him, noticeably irritated, that she had a big argument with Malcolm about her accepting "her chance of a life time" assignment in Brazil. From that time forward, she only talked about her Brazilian friends, so he assumed the relationship was over, as far he could follow Human relationship customs.
For him, that was the end of the story. Phlox never asked her about it and Hoshi seemed doing well. He did see less of her, because of her assignment in Brazil, but from time to time Hoshi made a short visit to Starfleet Headquarters and she always called him on those occasions for a lunch appointment. During one of those lunches she asked him out of the blue what he had heard about Reed.
Before he could answer, she spouted, "I heard that he's dating some woman who lives in San Francisco. I couldn't believe it! Malcolm of all people. He hadn't gotten a date in years before we started dating and now he's seeing someone else so soon? It must have been a mistake." Hoshi cut herself off, desperately trying to whirl spaghetti around her fork.
"I haven't heard anything, but he probably learned a lot about Human dating practice from his time with you. You're a capable teacher," he said cheerfully.
Hoshi didn't share his optimism, giving him a disgruntled look after his remark. "Great," she mumbled.
"In a way, this was to be expected," he replied, slightly confused. Wasn't she the one who ended their relationship in the midst of the fight? He gave her an encouraging smile. "Lieutenant Reed is single and has admirable qualities. If he has found someone, we can see this as the natural course of things."
Phlox liked Hoshi, she was a warm and kind young women, who had grown in her capacity as communication officer. Her contagious optimism was one of the reasons he enjoyed her company. Now her face showed no sign of optimism at all. In fact he never seen her so gloomy as she looked now.
"I don't expect you to understand," she said softly before deliberately changing the subject.
Of all the senior officers, Malcolm Reed was the one with whom he'd had very little opportunity to form a professional relationship. Reed hardly ever visited sickbay, aside from his regular immunizations, and their interactions were always short. He was a man that kept to himself, colds or any medical inconvenience, he endured alone, without the help of a doctor.
He respected the man, a capable officer and a good friend for Commander Tucker. He knew from his friendship with Tucker that Reed was fully able to smile or laugh, but to tell the truth, he never witnessed it. In his eyes, Malcolm Reed was a serious, dedicated man and laughing out loud was not his thing. Until that moment at Madame Chang's.
He was sitting in his favorite Chinese restaurant on a quiet Thursday night, waiting for his egg drop soup to arrive, when the baritone sound of a man laughing caught his attention. Phlox looked up. The laughter came from a man, dressed in a light blue suit, a few tables away from him. It took him a minute to realize he was staring at the back of Lieutenant Reed. The security officer blocked his view of his company, but he did see a mass of blond hair and part of a slightly green dress.
He stared at the couple and then his curiosity led them to their table. "It seems to me, you also appreciate the delicacies of Madame Chang's," he began in conversation. "It's nice to see you again, Lieutenant. How are you?"
Reed turned around. "Doctor Phlox! I heard you're working at the main Starfleet Medical Facility. Starfleet assigned me to some very interesting projects at several departments. Quite enjoyable I may add, so, to answer your question, I'm doing well."
He introduced him to his companion. "Rianna, this is Doctor Phlox, the chief medical officer aboard Enterprise." Then he nodded at Phlox and said, "Doctor, this is Rianna Thott from Sweden, she's working at Letech company in San Francisco."
He extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Thott."
Rianna looked at him and for a split second he had a feeling that she regarded him with such disgust and hatred, that he was taken aback. The next moment, that impression faded, when Rianna smiled warmly at him, shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Doctor Phlox. You have also found your way to Madame Chang's kitchen." She spoke the same dialect of English as Malcolm, but her accent gave away she wasn't a native English speaker.
"I have not only found it, I love her food and come here regularly. In fact, Chinese food was one of the reasons I stayed on Earth," he responded.
"Asian food is always very good. Did you ever try Thai or Japanese? Japanese food is kind of bland compared with Thai or Chinese. It takes time to get used to it, but it's very tasteful and healthy."
"Rianna is into healthy food," Reed remarked, casting a teasing look at her. "The truth is, I had to convince her that Madame Chang's is healthy too."
"He has such a hard time with his healthy girlfriend," she teased back. "At least we both like sweet desserts."
Phlox let their interaction pass by and answered Rianna's question. "I like Thai food as well, never tried Japanese, but Chinese is always my favorite."
"Well, hopefully the cook aboard Enterprise was aware of your preference, so you could enjoy Chinese food during your travels with the crew," she remarked, "but I cannot help wondering what Denobulan food is like. Not like Chinese, I presume."
"Denobulan food comes in many variations, Miss Thoth, as on Earth. How is the food in your country? Equally famous?"
"I think you will find our husmanskost boring," she smiled.
"I doubt that, Miss Thoth. Home cooking is one of my favorite food, in fact, I like to make Hoktak, a very famous Denobulan dish, myself."
During their exchange, he had a chance to observe her. Her turquoise dress flowed naturally from her shoulders to her feet, emphasizing her strong yet feminine build beautifully. Her muscular arms, slightly colored by the sun, betrayed that she liked to sport. She was at ease and she moved with confidence and grace. Her face showed that she listened with interest and her features were not perfect, yet her manner, her eyes, the blond hair that curled on her shoulders, the smile on her lips, all underlined her allure. Lieutenant Reed was a lucky man.
The lucky man coughed. "I think your dinner has arrived, Doctor Phlox. We still have to order ours," Reed pointed out, tactfully.
He turned around, saw that the waiter, who knew him very well from his many prior visits, had just put his meal on the table. He took the cue and went back to his place. He saw Rianna put her hand on Malcolm's, Reed moved his head closer to her blond one, his black hair contrasting with hers. His lips were moving, a couple of inches away from her mouth. She whispered back. They smiled at each other and continued their silent, intimate conversation, before their waiter arrived.
His eyes moved away from the couple to his food and while he ate, he regretted that he hadn't had taken this chance to ask Reed about Tucker. Malcolm didn't seem in the mood to be interrupted now. Looking from his food to the back of the security officer, now in conversation with Rianna, he realized that he missed being on Enterprise. He missed the friendship between the crew members. He missed Tucker who, without T'Pol, preferred to maintain a professional distance instead of his familiar manner that had bound the crew together.
After this, he saw Reed twice, only in passing. He did see Rianna once in the Starfleet building and on that occasion she told him that she had applied to Starfleet. Malcolm's stories had raised her interest even more and Starfleet was the best way to serve Earth, as she put it. She remained the warm personality he had encountered at Madame Chang's. According to the information provided by Starfleet Medical, Doctor Gonzalez gave her a clean bill of health and when the other tests and formalities were done, the new list of crew members revealed that Rianna would serve aboard Enterprise aspart of the engineering department.
The new engineering crew of Enterprise. A year had almost passed and while he enjoyed his research projects, he hoped that soon Enterprise would be launched again. Starfleet Command didn't seem in a hurry to bring the ship back into space. He wondered if when they did, the crew would include T'Pol.
Then he heard from Janine, Archer's secretary, that T'Pol had returned to Earth, but he didn't get a message from her.
Everything changed, when the Romulans attacked one of Earth's colonies. Starfleet Command moved fast and ordered the launch of Enterprise back into space.
So he found himself, the night before the launch, busy feeding his animals in his part of Starfleet Medical and thinking which animals he would take with him and which one to leave in the care of Ensign Miles, one of the assistants at Medical. He was talking to his new pet, a Kartalian hamster, when he heard the sound of a incoming message. He expected a call from Doctor Hinnes in regard to his research. He pushed the button to receive the message, but instead of Hinnes he saw a lost friend: T'Pol.
"Doctor, I am sorry to call you at this late hour, but I am aware that you rarely sleep and Commander Tucker and I require your medical expertise," T'Pol said. "We think it's important to investigate a certain matter. We can give you more information in person."
He couldn't care less if T'Pol had called him during his hibernation period or this night hour, the fact that she called him, Tucker was with her, and the urgency in her voice, made him put everything aside to help them. It was much easier and better to have things investigated before Enterprise was back in space, so he invited them to come right away. He would wait at Starfleet Headquarters, before the statue of Zefram Cochrane, and when they arrived, he guided them to the space in the medical facility that had been his own sickbay over the last year.
He studied T'Pol when she explained that they suspected that Commander Tucker had been infected with something that had affected his behavior and decisions, and that he had experienced a migraine that had almost left him unconscious. T'Pol had lost some weight, but not as much as he had expected from earlier experience. Her face showed signs of wear earned over the last year. She looked somewhat older and more expressive in a way, but other than that, combined with her new hairstyle, she looked well. So did Tucker.
They seemed to be at ease with each other. He found their request a bit vague and he had the feeling they were not telling the whole story, but he enjoyed helping. So he started checking Tucker's vital signs, his brain patterns and made scans of every part of his brain, as T'Pol asked him. After this, he checked every substance on the list T'Pol had given him, foreign substances that could block or stimulate telepathic avenues.
Tucker was very cooperative, but didn't say much. T'Pol was searching though Starfleet's medical database. He noticed that, from time to time, Tucker's eyes would wander off to T'Pol and his whole face softened, seeing her reading silently, behind Phlox's desk. It looked like Commander Tucker was still suffering from the one ailment that was universally untreatable, but he had a suspicion T'Pol was too.
Denobulans were taught never to be so focused on one person, like Humans or Vulcans. It spared them from jealousy, or to be more accurate, there was no room for those sort of feelings. When you shared your wife with two other men and had two other wives, you needed to give each other space and avoid possessive attachment. Still, family life was very complicated and most Denobulans preferred to live and work alone.
Tucker's vital signs were fine, but his brain patterns were off. He identified a very faint shehkuh- wave, normally only to be found in Vulcans. Scan number 4 of his brain showed several unusual lesions. He made more scans and checked the list of substances. There was an accumulation of normal retroviruses in his brain, that were strangely carrying mechanical components found on the list. He magnified the viruses to the maximum setting and also had a closer look at the mass in the orbitofrontal cortex, near the lesion he had already discovered. It was an object. He looked at it, nonplussed, and thought it was time to share his discoveries with the commanders.
He started by showing them a series of neural cut-aways. "This is a scan of your prefrontal cortex," he said to Commander Tucker. "This," he pointed at branching black lines, "is scar tissue, the same lesions I have seen in the Expanse when crew members were attacked by a telepathic being. However, it is far more erratic."
"What does it mean, doctor?" Trip wanted to know.
"It looks like you have been attacked by and were fighting with a telepath and judging from the age of the scar, this took place a year ago. You put up quite a fight, Commander," he laid down his theory, based on his discoveries.
"Can't remember a thing about it. What about that white square shaped scar next to the front?" Tucker remarked, pointing to the scar that also mystified him.
"Yes, that one is puzzling to me. I would like to exam the orbitofrontal cortex more closely. I'm almost certain I have seen this kind of lesion before. I have to look in my files. I believe it comes from the same source as the scar tissue."
T'Pol knew the answer. "It's a scar left behind after a memory block. Someone has erased Commander Tucker's memory."
"How did she obtain that knowledge?" he thought. "Are you sure, Commander T'Pol? Have you seen this before?" he asked her.
"Yes and so have you. When you were examining my brain."
He was astonished by her admission of certain events and he wondered why he seen the scar, but never had thought about a memory block. They agreed that the scars needed more research and he presented his second discovery. He showed them a picture of the viruses and told them about the fact that they weren't biological, but composed of mechanical components.
"I will extract some of these nano-viruses from Commander Tucker's body for you both to examine," he suggested. "Before that, I would like to have a closer look at his skin, lungs, nose and digestive system to establish the infection vector. But there is more."
He put up another scan. "This object, invisible as the viruses, is made of the same material, only connected into a larger form. It's situated in Commander Tucker's orbitofrontal cortex, near the lesion T'Pol identified. It looks damaged; something happened to it. I am not sure what. Maybe you could also investigate the scans I made of this object."
After he did some further tests on Tucker, he went on with his research as did the commanders. After a while, he wanted to show them his results. Walking toward them, he saw Commander Tucker and T'Pol standing close to each other. To his surprise, knowing Vulcan customs regarding touch, he saw Tucker gently massaging T'Pol's shoulders. Tucker moved forward, saying something close to her ear, T'Pol turned to him, searched his face and spoke back to him.
The commanders seemed to be back together. It only confirmed his theory about the two. Tucker had clear traces of Vulcan brainwaves in his brain and he already knew by his admission that they had been intimate. Combined with his knowledge of Vulcans and their mating bond, he came to the conclusion that the two had been bonded. Quite unique for a Vulcan and a Human. He couldn't help feeling excited about this new discovery. The evening had been full of them.
He almost hated to interrupt them, but there were bigger issues at stake. Tucker explained that the viruses really were micro-mechanical robots with gigabytes of computer memory. The materials from which these nanites were made could facilitate telepathic waves. T'Pol suggested that they were designed for telepathic use, which was probably also the purpose of the device. After a short discussion about brainwaves, T'Pol laid down her theory that, based on the materials, the mysterious device functioned as a telepathic transmitter.
"If this transmitter is only linked to one set of telepathic waves," she explained, "perhaps theta waves, as the frequency cycle is similar to one produced by Vulcan brains, and can't handle different waves... If someone were transmitting similar but slightly altered telepathic waves himself-"
"It would cause the transmitter to overload," Trip finished her sentence.
"The overload of telepathic energy is, in my opinion, the reason for the pain you complained about. The device is likely compatible only with a specific Human frequency, such as theta waves," T'Pol explained.
"Why my brain?" Tucker asked.
"Judging by the quantity of nanites in your body, you were exposed to a large group of them. I don't think this was meant for you alone, but for everyone working in a certain environment," Phlox answered.
T'Pol agreed. "If you can create a group of people which you can influence without them knowing, you have a force inside your enemy's army that is going to fight for you."
"Like little Trojan horses," Tucker said. "If we found the source, we would know more."
The most likely course of action was to look at all the assignments Tucker had this last year, starting with the last one, and look if other people where affected as well. If they were, Tuckers condition was no accident, but a deliberate attack on Human kind.
If there were hostile forces at work, they most likely were well organized and maybe even infiltrators were hidden in Starfleet itself. He hardly thought it was a coincidence that the only telepath in Starfleet was removed the same time as part of Commander Tucker's memory was erased and the plan apparently was put into place. If they were to inform Starfleet now, without more information or a cure for that matter, they could end up waking sleeping dogs that didn't need to inadvertently learn that their scheme had been discovered.
The last thing they needed was for Starfleet to jump on this case and draw the wrong conclusions, dragging everything in their wake. He had no interest in politics, but combined with his disapproval toward Starfleet's proceedings with T'Pol last year and his awareness of the tense situation in the Coalition, he could easily see things getting worse. They might accuse the Vulcans or T'Pol, because they were the only known telepathic species in the Alpha Quadrant, and that could very well play into the enemy's hand.
So he suggested the following, "I will check with the doctor at the facility you last worked for, Commander Tucker, and suggest that he examine the crew and, if necessary, put them in quarantine. Also, I will check everyone who came with you to Headquarters from that facility."
He looked at Tucker's tired face and added, "For the time being, Commander Tucker, it looks from your brainwaves patterns that the device in your brain isn't functioning, but the viruses are still there. On the other hand, they don't appear to be contagious. I will give you a monitor, so I will be notified of any major changes in your brainwaves. Go home, get some rest, get some food. You look exhausted and tomorrow is a long day. Please see me after the 9 o'clock meeting. The same goes for you, Commander T'Pol."
Tucker protested, "I understand the need to present our case carefully, with as much as information as possible, to avoid alerting the people behind this," he stressed, "but we still have to inform Command as soon as possible. Remember those Drones ships the Romulans made? They were operating via telepresence and telepathy was necessary to operate the device. Romulans have experience with telepathic technology. So what if we are in space, fighting the Romulans and they start transmitting telepathic waves to manipulate people? Some of the research facility workers are assigned to Enterprise. It would be reckless to go into unknown and dangerous territory when part of the crew could come under the enemy's influence."
"We hardly have evidence, only theories and some strange retroviruses in your body, Commander. We have a better chance presenting our case, if Doctor Green confirms that other people are also infected. Besides, there is another difficulty. It's not simple to explain how we discovered the nanites in your body without revealing," he paused, looking back and forth between Tucker and T'Pol and dropped his voice, "shall we say personal information." He saw their eyes light up in understanding that he was talking about their bond.
"As of now, the nanites are neither harmful nor contiguous, so there is no immediate danger." He continued, "I have taken precautions and will inform Captain Archer that I am investigating a case of rare retroviruses. After we receive confirmation from Doctor Green that the workers on the facility are also infected, we'll inform the people directly involved and key persons in Starfleet Command and Intelligence."
"And find a way to neutralize the nanites," Tucker agreed.
Now they had reached an agreement on their strategy, Tucker and T'Pol, took his advice to get some rest and headed home. He continued his work and contacted Doctor Green stationed at the research facility Tucker where had been working.
After breakfast he went back to sickbay and found – to his surprise – Tucker, looking refreshed and in a clean uniform waiting for him. He took the chance to check his monitor, while Tucker revealed the reason for coming.
He asked him if he had thought of examining Captain Archer. "He's been in close contact with the object researched at the facility, together with Lieutenant White of Research and Development, and chances are high that he's infected as well."
"I have tried to reach him and sent our information, but his secretary said he is extremely busy," Phlox answered. "I was able to make an appointment with the captain at 13.00 hours, a perfect opportunity to either tell him more about the situation or take a discreet scan. Hopefully we'll have more information by then."
Finishing the check-up, he concluded, "You are in excellent condition. No sign of any activity from the transmitter, but in the last hours the shehkuh- waves, which are basically Vulcan waves, that I found in your brain, have intensified. You also have high levels of alpha and beta waves and lower levels of gamma waves, which suggest you've been doing anything except sleeping."
Tucker glided off the bed. He rolled his tongue against his cheek, before answering simply, with a glint of amusement in his eyes and humor in his voice that had been missing for a long time, "T'Pol and I had a lot of work to do."
Tucker went ahead to the conference room where the senior officers' meeting was held. Phlox tried again to make contact with Doctor Green again, to no avail, before he also went to the meeting. He was happy to see all of them, especially Hoshi, but he couldn't fail to notice that she and Lieutenant Reed took seats opposite of each other. T'Pol came later and Captain Archer introduced T'Pol as an addition to the crew. He had already been told about this development by T'Pol, but it still pleased him to see T'Pol take her place among the crew again. Archer told the senior officers about the Romulan attack and the order from Command for Enterprise to assist the ships already on the scene.
After the meeting, he went to T'Pol. "Before reinstating, most officers have a routine medical exam. Maybe you could join me now at the medical facilities at Headquarters for yours, if you have the time," he invited her, with the intent to hear and discuss Doctor Green's results together. Tucker didn't follow, but he expected him any minute.
He was eager to hear from Doctor Green, so as soon as they arrived, he contacted him again. It took some time, but finally he had a signal. "You were right, colleague, I checked with several crew members and they have been infected by this virus. It didn't look like it had much effect on the crew members I checked," Doctor Green told him, "but one hour ago, one of them became very ill. If I can't treat him properly, he's going to die. Since he's Vulcan, I'm unsure how to proceed. Maybe you could help me?"
"So, Doctor Green, this deathly ill crew mate on your facility is a Vulcan? I thought you had only Human crew members," he wanted to know.
Then he heard Commander Tuckers voice, "Oh no! Kov."
He turned around. "Do you know this man, Commander Tucker?"
"Why is he ill? You said that the viruses weren't contagious and you made it look like they were harmless, unless-"
He cut Tucker off, not wanting this kind of discussion in front of Green.
He turned to Doctor Green. "Did you already try contacting a Vulcan physician?"
Green nodded. "I did. I described the symptoms to Doctor Polek of the Vulcan Medical Institute in San Francisco. According to him, it looks like the patient, called Kov, has entered some kind of Vulcan healing sleep, but Polek had trouble understanding why the brain patterns were so erratic. Kov's vital signs are unstable. Then I thought of your request to check certain substances within the bodies of the facility workers, which led me to the viruses. I hadn't had time to check Kov, but when I did, I found plenty in his body. There is something very strange, though. They looked like normal retroviruses, but contained inorganic material, as if manufactured."
"That confirms my findings. What about my other question?" he wanted to know. "Could you find an accumulation of viruses near the orbitofrontal cortex of your patients?"
"Yes, that's what makes this matter even more urgent," Green answered. "All of the subjects had the same accumulations in the brain. Given the fragility of the brain, it certainly raised some red flags with me. Strangely, from the individuals I checked so far, none of them complained about medical problems, like headaches or nausea and I didn't find any side effects common with inflammation or chemical balances that viral infection often causes. Except now with the Vulcan. It almost looks like that they didn't effect Humans, maybe just Vulcans."
"Did Kov ever complain to you about not feeling well?"
Green smiled shortly. "No, but you know, if he ever did have medical problems, he would probably dealt with it by himself, before consulting me. Vulcans are notoriously private in my experience. For now, I'll try to keep him stable, but his brain patterns are reasons for great concern. So I would like you to have a look at my readings and scans and see if you can give some insight on how to treat Kov. If we don't find a solution soon, I fear for his life."
"I will look into it immediately. I will also ask Enterprise's Vulcan science officer her opinion. You will hear from me shortly."
Green nodded. "I'll send the information right now. Hope to hear from you soon." He ended the transmission.
The scans and readings that Green sent showed that the transmitter was damaged, but to a far lesser extent than Tucker's.
"If your theory is correct, Commander," he said to T'Pol, "then Kov's condition is due to his abilities as a Vulcan telepath. If the transmitters are functioning on a frequency close to shehkuh waves, then it may usurp a Vulcan brain completely as it did the Commander's acquired telepathic functions. While Commander Tucker's brain was generating similar waves, they weren't quite the same and therefore likely responsible for shorting out his transmitter. Kov doesn't have that advantage."
"It is highly speculative, Doctor. I have no information that Kov uses his telepathic abilities, but from the description it looks like he has entered a Vulcan healing trance," T'Pol answered. "He likely thinks that will help him, but his telepathic brainwaves are most likely the cause of his problem."
"I have no doubt that he is aware of telepathic techniques," Tucker brought up, "and we don't have time to develop theories. Who do we stop to prevent those harmful telepathic waves?" Tucker sounded agitated.
"Kov is a good friend of Commander Tucker," T'Pol explained to him.
"He is," Tucker affirmed. "He helped me a lot with..." He stopped. "T'Pol, how exactly did your monitor in Lethizeh block your telepathic avenues?"
T'Pol seemed to tense slightly, hearing the word Lethizeh, nevertheless, she answered his question. "It's a combination of radiation, caused by certain metals that serve as isolators. They are aimed specifically at the shehkuh- brainwave, which regulates telepathic abilities."
Tucker seemed to mull over this information. "So they knock out the telepathic brainwaves, but the other brainwaves can still function? If Kov is suffering because of his telepathic brainwaves, that radiation might be the way to stop the transmitter waves."
"It's a crude method and the patient will need close observation," Phlox answered, "but in my opinion you are right, we have to stop the harmful waves instantly and if the radiation can achieve that, I suggest we try it."
T'Pol contacted Ambassador Soval to obtain the necessary information, after which they looked for alternatives that might be available in a Human medical facility. He made a report in cooperation with Tucker and T'Pol to inform key persons of Command and Intelligence that they judged hadn't been exposed. He also discussed with Green his solution to expose Kov to a small amount of this radiation to see if had any effect. T'Pol took over, explaining technical Vulcan details to Green and his staff.
He went to Tucker, who was working behind his desk with several PADDs in front of him.
Commander Tucker said without preamble, "If this cure for Kov has positive results, it could support an idea I have to neutralize the nanites. I need your and T'Pol's expertise to develop it further," Tucker explained.
"Commander Tucker," he complimented through intonation, realizing how much he liked the man, "I have no doubt with your knowledge and creativity, we are going to find a solution."
To his surprise, Tucker's face darkened and his voice was strained when he said, "I want to help the people affected, not regretting later on that I didn't do anything, like when T'Pol was taken into custody."
"You did help T'Pol during the investigations," he answered reassuringly.
"I didn't protest or help her in any way after that final meeting. I know it was due to the attack, but still..."
He was startled. "I remember Lieutenant Reed telling me that you had an idea to counteract the events. You were going to confront someone in order to release T'Pol."
"When was this?"
"Right after the meeting with Lieutenant Arling, when it was revealed that T'Pol still fell under Vulcan jurisdiction. You didn't show up for your check-up for your injured shoulder, so I asked Lieutenant Reed where you were. You came to sickbay much later."
He saw the blood drain out of Tucker's face. His body tensed, his shoulders dropped an inch. It was like fatigue and sadness washed over him. He stared beyond him, without seeing. In the corner of his eye, Phlox saw T'Pol turn her head, casting an inquiring look on Tucker, before walking toward him.
"Doctor Green has received all the information and will give you an update about Kov's condition as soon as possible," she reported to him, but her eyes never left Tucker's face.
Before his eyes, Tucker returned to normalcy. He smiled warmly at T'Pol and said in a slightly hoarse voice "It's a long shot. I sure hope it works, though." Then he turned to him. "Doctor, can I have a look at my medical file? I think I have to investigate a medical check-up I made a year ago."